First and foremost we are deeply and humbly grateful to our men and women in uniform to continue to put themselves in harms way in our wars in the Middle East.

1) We owe an unreturnable debt of gratitude to Sgt. David Clay Prescott, Jr., 40, of Murfreesboro, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, and Chief Warrant Officer Two Billie Jean Grinder who were killed this year while in service in the defense of our country.

We are thankful for the safe and early return of the vast majority of troops in the large 278^th Regiment and several other National Guard units, plus countless Army, Maine, Navy and Air Force volunteers who represent this community in the highest tradition.

Equally, we are grateful without end to our veterans of all wars, military actions and tenures.

2) We give great thanks this day for the phemonenal step forward in medical services as represented by the new Middle Tennessee Medical Center, a project 12 years and $267 million in the making.

The new hospital’s campus at 68.5 acres is more than four times larger than MTMC’s former campus on Highland Avenue where the hospital was established in 1927.
The rewards in enhancing the health and medical service to our community are truly incaluculable.

3) Thanksgiving is proffered for the 20 years of service in Congress by U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon whose contributions to this community are indeed massive, from greenways to Pell Grant reformation to stopping ripoffs to service to veterans, support of MTSU and advancement of science and education overall.

While changing community demographics may have lost him favor in a broader political sense, his service, interest and contributions to those he purported to serve is without question.

4) After yet another increasingly nasty campaign season, we give thanks that a major election cycle is now over, express our gratitude to all who offered themselves as candidates and appreciate the good citizens who participated in the critical component of democracy.

5) We offer thanksgiving for the new Smyrna unit of the Boys & Girls Club of Rutherford County and the new teen center soon to open at the Murfreesboro facility.

The magnificent Smyrna club represents an investment of several millions of dollars and would not be able to meet the huge need for its services without the ever-contributing Christy-Houston Foundation and a legion of business, corporate and private donations.

6) We give thanks for the vision, the passion and the magnificent ability to share them with others that Bertha Chrietzberg has spread across this community for several decades in recognizing, protecting and enhancement environmental quality.

She could rightfully be considered the mother of Murfreesboro’s incredible Stones River Greenway system.

Earlier this month she was rightfully acknowledged byFriends of the Stones River Greenway Board and the city of Murfreesboro's Parks and Recreation Department that placed trailhead by planting a Shumard oak tree and placing a plaque  at the Overall Street Trailhead with an inscription that states: "From a tiny acorn grows a majestic oak tree. This place is in honor of Bertha Chrietzberg, conservationist, teacher, mentor, hero, and genuine example of the power each one of us has to make a positive change in the world."

7) Thanks are offered to the many community and business leaders who through the years pursued the dream that has lead to the new and magnificent Chamber of Commerce headquarters and visitors center just about to open on Medical Center Parkway

8) We are thankful for individuals like gracious and generous Joyce Taylor, whom we call the Sovereign of Society, who volunteers seemingly endlessly for the many events and causes that provide great support and indeed the funding lifeblood of so many great benevolent endeavors in our community.

9) In that same prayer of thanksgiving we are grateful without limit for the long, untiring service of Dr. Liz Rhea in promoting, asking and raising funds for a vast array of agencies who make their community better, kinder and such a great place to live.

10) Thanks are given for Cliff Sharpe and Greenhouse Ministries that quietly and without fanfare reaches out a helping hand in so many ways to so many needful areas from shelter and clothing in times of crisis to adult education to simply a listening ear.

11) We are thankful for Ronni Shaw and her efforts, aided by so many, with Read to Succeed and its various offshoots in promoting literacy, an absolute bedrock for any success in our world today, and providing support to those who need it.

And, thank you, kind reader, for taking the time to share in this listing of just a tiny fraction of that and those in our community for which we most assuredly such be most dearly and deeply thankful.